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The Ultimate Discrete Marijuana Grow Room Security Lock Part 1


Neat stuff – if you’re
like me, the first thing you thought was “Cool - that would be a neat way to
add security to my growroom!” But not knowing how to go about it, you set the
idea aside…
Today, we’re going to learn how to create this cool, hi-tech security system
for cheap. OK, maybe if $200 is a lot of bread to you, you won’t find it
cheap. Fortunately for me, I make a good salary and don’t mind buying toys
from time to time. But good news, cheapskates - you should be able to find most
parts via Ebay or online surplus places for a lot less. SmartHome is definitely
overpriced, but always has the parts.
Let’s begin.
The concept:
An electronic lock that will unlock in response to an input.
Some mechanism for providing that input.
I am not going to get into the minor carpentry involved in replacing your
regular door strike with this electric one, but will just say that it’s not
too hard if you’re at all handy with tools. There are also surface-mount locks
that can easily be installed by even a trained monkey (like me), and can also be
controlled by the proximity sensor described here. (If this post is well
received, I'll write up one of those next.)
After installation, your doorknob and key lock will continue to work the same as
always, but you’ll also have this neato Proximity System! In a follow-on
tutorial, I’ll describe one of the surface-mount electric locks that has the
advantage that you don’t need ANY externally visible doorknob or lock – very
cool for stealth applications. I’m still working out a couple details on that
one though.
The parts list
Electric door strike – Ebay for about $40
Proximity sensor -- $110 from SmartHome – often available cheaper on Ebay
12v, 500mA power supply for Prox Sensor – easily scavenged or ordered from
SmartHome @ $35
Here's the Proximity Sensor
in the box - several views...




And here are the electric door strike, and the A/C adapter. Pay close attention to the labeling on the AC adapter - tells us not only the voltage and amperage that it supplies, which are critical for correct operation of the proximity sensor, but also tells us how the power plug is wired - so we'll know which part of plug is positive and which is negative.


Next, here is a shot of the
wiring instructions for the proximity sensor. It's pretty basic. There are two
wires for power in, and two wires for the sensor's output. Not exactly rocket
science, eh?
This is *so* easy… let's start wiring, following our diagram...
Connect the White wire from the back of the Proximity Sensor to the Positive (+)
wire on the door strike.
Connect the White/Orange wire from the Proximity Sensor to the Negative (-) wire
on the door strike.
Now, we'll hook up the AC
adapter to the Proximity Sensor's power input wires.
There are two wires coming out of the power supply, typically terminated in a
plug, which is illustrated on the label to show where the Negative and Positive
outputs are. See picture earlier of AC adapter label – it explains.
For test and illustration purposes, I have not yet chopped the adapter off the
power supply, but for real world application, that’s typically what you do,
since it’s easier to wire up that way. In today’s tutorial, I just taped the
wires to the plug using some masking tape, just to show it works.
Connect the Black wire from the back of the Proximity Sensor to the Positive
side of the Power Supply output.
Connect the Black/White striped wire from the back of the Proximity Sensor to
the Negative side of the Power Supply output.
OK - everything should be wired up now, so plug the AC Power Adapter into the
wall outlet. This step should be pretty obvious, so I’m not illustrating it
– if you need help with this, you shouldn’t be handling grow lights, much
less reading this page.

Next, you'll need to program
the Proximity Sensor.
The Proximity Sensor’s instructions describe how to program the swipe keys by
holding the Master key next to the sensor for 10 seconds, then holding the key
to be programmed next to the sensor for a second or two. These instructions will
be different depending on the kind of sensor, but are pretty basic – I’ll
leave it to the manufacturer to explain, but suffice it to say that any
semi-literate sixth grader could do it.
That’s it.
Here are three photos of the system wired up. There are some shadows and it’s
a bit hard to see here and there, especially with regard to the action shots -
can't really convey the way the lock opens and closes in still pictures. I
apologize.
The first photo is an overview of the system wired up on my bench.
In the second photo, notice that the indicator on the Proximity Sensor is red.
Observe that I’m pushing on the door strike. As you can see – it doesn’t
push in. Therefore, the door latch will catch on the strike, which won't give.
The door is locked.
In the third photo, you can see the Proximity Key resting on the Proximity
Sensor. The indicator on the Proximity Sensor is green. Again, notice my finger
on the door strike – as you can see, it pushes in easily, and the door latch
would flow right through. The door is unlocked.
Well, that’s it for today.
Next time, I hope to show you how to mount a heavy-duty magnetic lock and
control it with this proximity sensor. The lock I have requires power all the
time to remain locked, and you remove the power to unlock – exactly the
opposite of what my proximity sensor does. I’ll finagle a solution to that one
and post it up soon.
I forgot to mention a key
aspect of this system... you can mount the proximity sensor on the *inside* of
the wall (provided the wall isn't too thick for the signal to pass. This way
anybody on the outside can't even see it. A little gorilla glue squirted inside
the lock, or better yet the electric deadbolt I mentioned on the *inside* of the
door, and somebody on the outside won't have any access to your lock at all.
Only you know the secret spot to wave your magic key to unlock the door.
Also very useful for controlling locks on hidden cabinets. In this application,
you could have a totally sealed box with no external locking hardware at all.
Wave your key and the hidden spring-loaded door pops open. Totally James Bond!


More High-Tech Locking Will Be Posted Shortly!